MUSI 2060 Exam 2 Terms

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Two-beat bass

a type of bass accompaniment in which the bassist plays the root of the chord on the first beat of the measure and the fifth of the chord on the 3rd beat of the measure; associated very strongly with country music

Flat-four beat

a rhythm style in which all four beats of a four-beat measure are equally accented, as opposed to a backbeat rhythm. The flat-four beat is prominent in Motown songs.

Standard song form (AABA)

a musical structure that typically consists of 2 musical parts (A and B) played in four sections. Each section is generally eight measures long, resulting in 32-measure form. The A part is played and repeated (8 + 8 measures), followed by the B part or bridge (8 measures), and a return of the A part (8 measures) for an overall form of AABA in 32 measures. In some rock songs the AABA form is borrowed with a great deal of freedom and combined with strophic song form: in some cases the A part further divides into a verse (a) and chorus (b), while the B part retains its bridge function.

Skiffle

folk music with a jazz and blues influence (Lonnie Donegan)

Super group

band Cream, composed of Eric Clapton and jack Bruce

Musique concrete

during the second period, the Beatles experimentation with tape and studio production techniques

MC

"Masters of ceremonies"; "Mic controller"; new name for DJs, who used turntable manipulation, backspinning, and scratching (rap in the 1970's)

Vamp

a short chord progression that is repeated several times as a means of marking time; often used as an introduction, a coda (usually of the fadeout type), or as an internal segment of a song over which the singer may talk to the audience. Many of James Brown's songs use a vamp.

Riff

a short melodic and/or rhythmic pattern that is repeated over and over while musical changes take place over the fragment; A riff is often the harmonic and rhythmical basis of the entire song. A good example of a riff-based song is the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction.

Strophic song form

A song form in which each verse of the text is sung to the same music. The music for each verse remains the same while the words change. Most blues songs and folk songs are strophic forms.

Aleatory/Aleatoric

A method of composition in which pitches, rhythms, motives, and other compositional decisions are left to the performer's discretion; also referred to as chance music because whatever happens is due to chance.

Melismatic/melisma

A melody line in which one syllable of a lyric is sung to many different pitches; used frequently in gospel music and, through influence, in Soul. The adjective form is melismatic.

Backbeat

placing a strong accent on the offbeats; in a four-beat measure, the drummer typically emphasizes beats 2 and 4, creating the basic rhythm of rock music

Backturning

used by early rap MCs; the technique of manually reversing the revolution of the turntable to repeat a phrase

Reverb

a type of sound distortion in which the sound is repeated several times very quickly resulting in an echo-like effect

Subdominant

the 4th pitch of a major or minor scale; Subdominant also refers to the chord that is built on the 4th pitch of the scale

Tonic

the main or central pitch of a major key; tonic also refers to the chord that is built on the first pitch of a scale and is therefore the main or central chord, or home chord, of a major or minor key

Dominant

the 5th pitch of the scale; also refers to the chord built on the 5th pitch of a scale

Concept album

large scale work; "cantata" → album has story line and characters (The Who- Tommy)

Polyphonic texture

a musical texture in which two or more independent melodic lines of equal importance or interest sound simultaneously

Scratching

a technique used by rap MCs in which the turntable is moved rapidly back and forth